What 49ers' Mike McGlinchey learned from stars Von Miller, Dee Ford

What 49ers' Mike McGlinchey learned from stars Von Miller, Dee Ford

SANTA CLARA — It’s only Mike McGlinchey’s second offseason as a pro, but he already has an advantage over many others: He has played across from some of the best in the business.

It’s not often that a player learns from multiple reps facing star pass rushers Dee Ford and Von Miller but that’s exactly what the 49ers second-year tackle has been able to do. He has faced Ford in practice as a teammate and has now had several reps and two games facing Miller.

“They are as good as advertised,” McGlinchey said. “It certainly helped our football team being able to play against those guys. Especially in the pass rush for Joe and I all week, to be able to see something like that. [It helps us] not only for that week but going forward for our season .”

McGlinchey explained that he was much less anxious going against Miller this year opposed to the end of last season as a rookie.

“A lot less anticipation than there was last season going into the game against him," McGlinchey said. “It’s practice, there’s not as much consequence for when you screw up or miss something.

“I had the experience from last year, got to go over the film and see what I did well see what I didn’t do well and I think I made a lot of improvements from that game last year to where we’re at now.”

Everyone knows that facing Miller is a challenge, but McGlinchey knows what it takes to win his matchup in the trenches -- even against the most intimidating opponents.

“Von will test every detail that you can figure out as an offensive lineman,” McGlinchey said. “So, it was good to see and good to stay in a process of what I do rather than focusing on how to win this week. It was good to see my technique work and the kind of stuff I did all season transfer over to blocking good pass rushers

“He tests everything about how you operate as an o-ineman. Everything he does is reactionary but it’s also with intent. He’s waiting to see what I do each rep and he’s going to use whatever he thinks against that particular set or run block or whatever it is.”

“I’m not going to choose against my own teammate,” McGlinchey said. “They are both extremely gifted athletes and rushers and I’m never going to pick one or the other, except for the fact that Dee is my teammate and I’m going to pick him every time.

“They are different in their own right, both extremely good and extremely talented and they are similar in their athletic ability but what they do in terms of how they rush is different.”

McGlinchey knows that no two pass rushers are alike, and understands how Ford and Miller -- while dominant in their own ways -- bring two different repertoires to the table.

“Von has that elite get off, but that’s not everything he’s working off of,” McGlinchey said. “The way that Dee rushes is that he works everything off his first step, and then power or around to the edge. Von is a little more reactionary whereas Dee is more ‘take it to you.’”

“Anytime you can get reps against the best it’s a good thing, it’s definitely huge for us.”

CINCINNATI – Fantasy football owners who invested a high draft pick in 49ers tight end George Kittle might not be thrilled with Kyle Shanahan’s vision for the season.

Of course, Kittle is still the central focus of the 49ers’ passing game, and he did have two touchdown receptions from Jimmy Garoppolo called back due to penalties in the season-opening win at the Tampa Bay Buccaneers.

But Shanahan hopes less Kittle translates into more balance around him for the 49ers’ offense.

“I think he will get a little more (attention) this year, but he dealt with that last year and he can still make a lot of plays when people do that,” Shanahan said of Kittle on “49ers Game Plan,” which airs Saturday at 7 p.m. on NBC Bay Area (TV, Ch. 3).

Shanahan said he hopes Kittle benefits from the players around him, such as Garoppolo, the offensive line, the other tight ends, the wide receivers and the running backs. The 49ers also activated running back Jeff Wilson from the practice squad on Saturday.

“The better we can balance our offense out, his stats might not be as good, but it will make his job a lot easier,” Shanahan said.

The 49ers are looking for production from the wide receivers, especially Dante Pettis, who is expected to see increased playing time on Sunday against the Cincinnati Bengals. Rookie Deebo Samuel and Marquise Goodwin started and played the vast majority of the action in Week 1.

Garoppolo was up and down in his first start after missing the final 13 games of last season with a knee injury. In Week 1, Garoppolo completed 18 of 27 pass attempts for 166 yards with one touchdown and an interception that was returned for a touchdown.

“When you win, that’s a little easier to deal with because you can go hard on yourself on Monday in watching the film, hard on yourself on Tuesday and then you try to work through it throughout the week,” Shanahan said.

“You try to put him in those same positions, the ones he just missed, and he’s had a good week of practice. I know that he’s happy starting 1-0, and hopefully he and everyone around him, including myself, will be a little bit better tomorrow, and hopefully we can be 2-0 because of it.”

Week 1 came and went faster than the timeframe of Antonio Brown's latest helmet deal being taken away.

The 49ers kicked off the season with a 31-17 win over the Tampa Bay Buccaneers. San Francisco spent this week sticking to their Community Tuesday's in Youngstown, Ohio and moving on from linebacker Kwon Alexander's hit on Bucs quarterback Jameis Winston.

The NFL didn't forget, however, and fined Alexander $28,075. This was after he received a 15-yard penalty and an ejection from the game.

But Week 2 brings a new matchup: The Cincinnati Bengals. And according to SportsLine, the Bengals are slightly favored.